Ankara - Turkey will take over the running of the airport in Libya's rebel bastion of Benghazi to facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

"An agreement has been concluded (with local authorities in Libya) in order that Turkey takes responsibility for Benghazi Airport for distributing humanitarian aid," Erdogan told reporters before leaving Ankara for a working-trip to Iraq.

He did not say when Turkey would undertake the mission.

An official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry told AFP that Turkey had agreed to run the airport following a request from insurgents.

Turkey will send "civilian and technical personnel" to run the airport, the same source said.

"Progress has been made to ensure that the airport be reopened", the official added.

Turkey, Nato's sole predominantly Muslim member and a key regional player, has slammed Western-led air strikes on Libya, vowing to "never point a gun at the Libyan people" and stressing the need for humanitarian aid efforts.

The Turkish parliament, however, approved the dispatch of a naval force to Libyan waters as the Islamist-rooted government moved reluctantly to join the military campaign in the north African country.

Ankara has pledged six vessels to a Nato patrol mission to enforce a UN arms embargo against Gaddafi’s regime.

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Saving your profile

Settings

News24 allows you to edit the display of certain components based on a location.
If you wish to personalise the page based on your preferences, please select a
location for each component and click "Submit" in order for the changes to
take affect.

Your Location*

Weather*

Always remember my setting

Saving your settings

Facebook Sign-In

Hi News addict,

Join the News24 Community to be involved in breaking the news.

Log in with Facebook to comment and personalise news, weather and listings.